'No Facilities, No Ambulance': Protests After Medical Student's Death in Mumbai

Protesters alleged that 22-year-old Dayanad Kale did not get treatment in time after he fell from a tree.

Students of R A Podar Ayurved Medical College in Mumbai's Worli, on Thursday, 27 April, protested against the college administration after the death of a third-year BAMS student.

The protesters alleged that the 22-year-old student, Dayanad Kale, did not get treatment in time after he fell from a tree, which allegedly led to his death.

"If Dayanand had completed his education, he would have been the first doctor from his Phanse Paradhi community," Rohit Dhale, Maharashtra president of Chhatra Bharati Vidyarthi Sanghatana, told The Quint.

Phanse Paradhi is a Scheduled Tribes community from Maharashtra.

Kale hailed from Samangao village in Osmanabad's Bhum taluka. His classmate Dhananjay Argewar informed The Quint that Kale's family is extremely poor and they had taken loans to manage his educational expenses.

Argewar described Kale as an outgoing person who would actively participate in campus activities.

"He would mingle with all. And he was very fond of sports. He would play badminton, cricket, volleyball. He would play volleyball with me. He was not a shy person. If he had any doubt in the classroom, he would ask. He was good at studies too. He had a clean record in all the subjects."

– Dhananjay Argewar

Argewar informed that they were playing together just half an hour before the unfortunate incident.

Kale lived in the hostel on-campus. He had climbed a mango tree in the late evenings on Wednesday but unfortunately he fell from the tree and hit a hard surface at around 10-10.15 pm.

He was taken to the Podar hospital's Casualty ward but the protesters have alleged that the medical officer on duty wasn't prompt in handling the situation. Also, the hospital's Casualty ward wasn't well-equipped to handle such a severe case.

Kale was eventually taken to the nearby Nair hospital in a taxi but didn't survive. Even though there was an ambulance on campus, it could not be used because there was no driver on duty.

The students protested all day long on Thursday against the negligence and delay shown in treating Kale and the lack of facilities in their own hospital. They have demanded action against the officers responsible, compensation to Kale's family and also better facilities in the hospital so that there is no repeat of the incident.

"If the treatment was available on time, the student may or may not have been saved. But who is responsible for the 45 minutes that were wasted in treating him?" Dhale asked.

He also accused the police of talking rudely with the protesters and manhandling them.

The police had detained a few protesters, including Dhale, and taken them to the Worli police station but were let go in the evening.

Shiv Sena (UBT) MLAs Aaditya Thackeray and Sunil Shinde and Lok Bharati MLC Kapil Patil visited the college on Thursday and met the protesters to enquire into the incident.

The Directorate of Ayush, Maharashtra has set up a committee consisting of outside deans and professors to gather details about the incident. The committee has been asked to submit a report within 10 days, after which appropriate action has been promised.

No compensation has been announced for Kale's family yet.

The Quint was not able to reach the dean's office of the R A Podar Ayurved Medical College on phone. The copy will be updated if we get a response to our mail to the dean.